From Valley Forge to Breezewood to New Stanton, truckers, commuters and joy-riders are paying six percent more out of their pocket to drive on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

The increase, effective January 6, isn’t just bothering motorists, it’s also caught the ire of the state’s chief executive, Gov. Tom Wolf.

“People using the turnpike are paying too much,” Wolf said in a late 2018 interview with KDKA Radio. “The turnpike is driving business away.”

The toll increase, a product of a decade old state law, is also driving a wedge between trucking groups that feel hosed by excessive rates and mass transit advocates who see them as essential to a millennial economy.

Between a clouded windshield, nervous drivers and slick conditions, driving in winter has enough hazards without someone who left a hat of snow and ice on their vehicle.

Pennsylvania already has laws that make it a fine if the frozen debris falls on another driver and leads to death or serious injury, passed in 2006.

Sen. Lisa Boscola (D-Northampton) was a champion of the legislation then, and “icy missiles” coming off of trucks on I-78 or I-80 have cost her a side mirror. More than that, snow falling off a truck even cost a constituent of Boscola’s their life over a decade ago on Christmas Eve.

With hopes of gaining lower fares and greater access, about 30 activists and riders gathered in front of a downtown Pittsburgh light rail station Friday, to call on the authority to enact reforms to ease the burden on low-income riders.

For Laura Wiens, director of transportation advocacy group Pittsburghers for Public Transit, the problem with the Port Authority of Allegheny County is a moral one because she portrays the county bus lines as lifelines for the over 200,000 people in the county that rely upon them.

On Wednesday afternoon, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale held a press conference to discuss his findings from an audit on Pennsylvania’s school district transportation reimbursements.

DePasquale explained that one third of the money spent by school districts for transportation is reimbursed by the state, while the remainder must be funded by local taxpayers. For this reason DePasquale stated it is critical that schools are receiving the correct amount of money, and he decided to audit schools regarding this money.